You must pair two clusters as a first step to using real-time replication functionality. After you pair and connect two clusters, you can configure active volumes on one cluster to be continuously replicated to a second cluster, providing continuous data protection (CDP). You can pair a source and target cluster using the MVIP of the target cluster if there is Cluster Admin access to both clusters. If Cluster Admin access is only available on one cluster in a cluster pair, a pairing key can be used on the target cluster to complete the cluster pairing.
Before you begin
- You have Cluster Admin privileges to one or both clusters being paired.
- Ensure there is less than 2000 ms of round-trip latency between clusters.
- Ensure that the difference between NetApp Element software versions on the clusters is no greater than one major version.
- Ensure that all node IPs on paired clusters are routed to each other.
Note: Cluster pairing requires full connectivity between nodes on the management network. Replication requires connectivity between the individual nodes on the storage cluster network.
About this task
You can pair one NetApp Element cluster with up to four other clusters for replicating volumes. You can also pair clusters within the cluster group with each other.